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10 pieces of advice I wish my
PhD advisor had given me
Jim Kurose
Department of Computer Science
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA USA
http://www.cs.umass.edu/~kurose

With great affection and apologies

to my advisors

Yechiam Yemini
Mischa Schwartz, EE Department, CS Department
Columbia University Columbia University

and a disclaimer…..

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 #1
study
broadly
I wish I’d Take math courses!
taken more ‰ every math course
math courses! I’ve taken has
been valuable
‰ won’t have time
later
‰ research fields
draw increasingly
on math as they
mature
‰ theory is timeless!

#1
study
broadly
I wish I’d Important courses
taken more outside CS
math courses! ‰ signal processing
‰ control theory
‰ information theory
‰ nonlinear
optimization
‰ stochastic
processes
‰ game theory
‰ domains: biology,
economics,…

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 #1
study
broadly
I wish I’d ‰ you will never
taken more again have so
math courses! much “relaxed”
time to study,
learn, think

Sorry for that piece

of bad news… but
it’s true

Choosing, defining a research #2

problem
pick your problems carefully!
‰ what’s the fundamental issue
you’re solving?
‰ will the problem be of interest
five, ten years from now?
‰ focus on fundamentals in a
world with an increasingly short
attention span
QoS
multicast
A fool can ask more congestion control
questions in a minute P2P
than a wise man/woman sensor networks
(or a Yoda) can answer in a lifetime energy

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 Choosing, defining a research
problem
There are lots of smart
people out there!
‰ avoid crowded areas
unless you have a
unique talent, viewpoint
‰ low-hanging fruit has
been picked
‰ researchers working on
“next big thing” are not
in the crowd.
Wisdom of crowds?

Choosing, defining a research

problem
solutions proposed
‰ complexity,
sophistication are
solution complexity

themselves not of
solutions in use interest (except to
purist)
understanding of
™ means, not an end
problem area
™ how is the “story”
changed in the end?
early middle late time

[adapted from Hluchyj 2001]

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Choosing, defining a research
problem
solution space avoid point solutions
‰ insights that cut across
solution space vs point
solution
‰ what broader
conclusions can be
drawn from your work?

.
You are here (but shouldn’t be)

#3
Publishing
‰ publish where you will get
mindshare, impact
‰ there is life beyond
sigcomm, infocom
‰ quality over quantity: avoid
LPUs
‰ PhD dissertation !=
magnum opus
‰ don’t be driven by
conference deadlines

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 #4
Time: your most precious resource
‰ give yourself time to
think
‰ manage your time
carefully:consciously
choose how you
spend your time

Only “how to” book

recommended by Bill
Clinton
Time I’ve given away 50+

#5
Learn how to write really well
‰ can not overstress
importance of good writing
™ the most important course?
‰ “unfair advantage” in
paper, proposal review
‰ Outstanding investment of
your time
‰ study role models

"No tale is so good that it can't be

spoiled in the telling”
http://www-net.cs.umass.edu/kurose/writing/
Proverb

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Top-10 tips for writing a paper
1: Every paper tells a
story
2. Write top down
3. Introduction:
crucial, formulaic
4. Master basics of
organized writing
5. Put yourself in
place of reader
Recommended reading:
Writing for Computer Science
by Justin Zobel
6. Put yourself in place
of the reader
7. No one (not even your
mother) is as
interested in this topic
as you
8. State results carefully
9. Study the art of writing
10. Good writing takes
time
The Elements of Style
by William Strunk E. B. White
(50 years old – and still a classic!)
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 #6
Learn how to speak really well
‰ can’t overstress importance of
good speaking
™ important course to
teach/take?
‰ “unfair advantage” in mindshare
‰ convey exciting story/message
™ thoughtful
™ engaging
™ clear, concise
‰ practice, practice, practice
™ videotape, critique yourself
™ study role models

#7
Learn the process of doing research

‰ our field is a guild

™ grad student = apprentice
™ professor = master artisan
‰ it’s about more than the results
in your thesis
™ you’ll be generating results
for a lifetime
™ knowing process is what’s
most important
apprenticeship ‰ why your advisor can’t (and
shouldn’t) solve (or even
define) the problem for you

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 #8
Think about what you want to do afterwards
academia: industry:
‰ teaching schools ‰ many different types of
‰ research-1 schools industry settings
‰ big v small; public v ™ startup
private ™ “big industry”
‰ country? ™ research labs
‰ do you love (or at least ‰ research institutes
like) to teach? students?

#9
A community of scholars
‰ meet people, listen,
collaborate
™ good students, colleagues,
friends
‰ approach, talk with
people
‰ interactions with peer
students
™ research discussions
™ paper presentations
™ practice talks
™ ….

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 #10
Identify role models
‰ who does something
you care about really
well?
™ how do they do it?
‰ many role models:
™ no one does everything
™ find your balance

‰ get a mentor
‰ be a mentor

#11
The last word
Have fun – enjoy
what you are doing

Best piece of advice I

ever received (1984):
“Pick a place, job where you’ll
have fun, enjoy living, enjoy
your colleagues. Without that,
no level of success will make
you happy.” Jack K. Wolf

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Questions!
‰ What did I miss?
‰ What advice would you give to 1st year student?

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